


Glory

by Apharine



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-01-04 12:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apharine/pseuds/Apharine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You've grown up with the royal brothers of Asgard; all your life has been spent playing, fighting, and learning by their side.  Whatever you have done, you have done together - until Thor and Loki leave to fight in the bloody Aesir-Vanir War to prove their strength and cunning.   But you and Lady Sif soon find that not all wars are fought on the battlefield, and it may be up to the two of you to fight a different war yourselves and bring the princes home, where they belong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is the prequel to Worthy I've been promising for a few months now. If you haven't read that yet, and if this intrigues you, please give Worthy a look! The two stories are separate from each other enough that they can easily be read out of order. After all, I wrote them out of order, haha. If you've read Worthy already, then welcome back! It's great to be back to posting and reading you guys' stories again. School has been exhausting and time consuming these past few months. Your comments on Worthy really inspired me to get back into this, though, so thank you all. You're a wonderful community, really, and I hope you all enjoy this!

“But Father! You'd promised to tell us the story of how you outsmarted the Norns tonight!” 

You lean against a corner, breathing hard and trying to force yourself to focus on the familiar voice that echoes down the hallway. Loki's words carry sweet and high through the air, and you reassure yourself that bad dreams mean nothing. Loki is nearby; you are safe.

“No!” A second voice, bearing a deeper timbre, chimes. “I wanted to hear the story of how you defeated the terrible Frost Giant Ymir!”

Your feet are a near-silent patter on the floor of the darkened corridors as you hasten onward. _Loki is nearby_ , you tell yourself again. _I am safe_.

“No, we hear that one _all_ the time,” Loki protests.

“Not _all_ the time.”

“We heard it twice this month already!”

The warm glow of candle-fire flickers into the hallway, and you step into the stuttering golden light, watching the illuminated scene before you. It stands in stark contrast to your fiendish nightmares of only minutes ago; indeed, this room appears straight out of a storybook. A raven-haired princeling perches upon his father's knee, while his brother sprawls across a feather bed, golden hair fanning around him like a crown. The Allfather smiles upon his sons lovingly, and you cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy at the sight of the royal family so content, when you had been alone in your bed, plagued by invisible monsters that existed only in your mind.

Indeed, you balk at the sight and shuffle back to the edge of the halo cast by the candle-fire. As you curl your fingers around the door-jamb, you only allow yourself to peek in at the scene before you; you cannot help but feel that your very presence is an unwelcome disturbance. But you _need_ to see Loki, and it is this pull that keeps you from running away.

“...heard it so many times because it's a good story!” Thor is protesting; Loki groans aloud in response.

“Even the best of stories grow stale with too many retellings, Thor,” he replies rather precociously.

With a jolt, you realize that the Allfather is watching you with his one good eye.

“Hush, now, boys. It seems we have an unexpected visitor,” he interrupts his sons with no more than a quiet murmur, and the two young princes glance to their father first, and then to you. Embarrassed, you slink back into the shadows further, away from the three pairs of royal eyes that are focused on you. Torn between turning tail to run away and the overwhelming need to speak with Loki, you freeze in place. For a long moment, the Allfather regards you curiously before finally asking, “Is everything all right?”

All your emotions come out at once.

You give a strangled wail that is supposed to sound like the word “No,” but you suspect it sounds a bit more like a dying bilgesnipe. You don't care, though; you rush forward into the room, tears streaming down your face freely. Heavy sobs rack your body as you slump against the Allfather's free leg, clinging to him like a babe in arms. The next moment you've realized what you've done, and you pull away just as abruptly, chasing the tears out of your eyes with shaking hands.

“Now, now,” Odin murmurs, scooping you up with his free arm and setting you on his lap opposite Loki. You are blushing furiously; this is _the King of Asgard_ \- and you are not his family! What have you done?! “Why don't you tell us all what's wrong?”

A strangled sob escapes your throat, and you cover your mouth, breathing heavily and trying to get a hold of yourself.

“Is it the dreams again?” Loki asks in a soft voice, leaning forward and putting one hand on your knee. You bury your face in your hands and nod.

“Yes,” you manage to say. “Th...they're worse than ever.”

“It's all right,” Loki coos, and you feel the warm flow of his magic rushing into you where his hand meets your knee. “You're here with us, and you're safe. It's only a dream. It can't hurt you.”

A familiar warmth creeps up your leg and soon settles in your stomach. Loki's magic seems to swim throughout your body until it is flooding your senses; colors swirl before your eyes, your arms and legs feel pleasantly heavy, and your sniffling quiets as you grow drowsy and relaxed.

“Better?” Loki asks as he removes his hand, and you wipe away the last of your tears clumsily.

“Mhmm,” you agree with a small smile, aware that everyone is still watching you closely. “Thank you, Loki. If it's all right, I'll take my leave now.” You make an awkward bowing gesture at the waist in the direction of both Loki and the Allfather before squirming and trying to put your legs back on the ground. To your surprise, Odin holds you tighter, not allowing you to so much as move an inch away from his lap.

“Not just yet, little one,” he intones, and for a moment, you fear he is angry. But no; his tone is one of genuine concern, you realize, and you grow still in his arms. “What is this about dreams?”

“Oh...well,” you fumble for a moment, glancing up at Loki. He raises his eyebrows to you and nods encouragingly. “I know it sounds silly, but I've been having these awful nightmares for the past month or so...” You trail off, feeling ridiculous, but Odin only nods, watching you carefully through his good eye. You squirm a bit and continue. “And I wouldn't be scared of them, but it feels like real life somehow. And every night, it's the same nightmare but it just gets worse, and then I wake up and can't fall back asleep. So I go to find Loki because he has magic and can take the bad dreams away for the rest of the night...” You trail off, realizing that Odin is watching you as if you are suddenly the most peculiar thing he has ever seen in all the Nine Realms.

“I used to have awful nightmares like that, too,” he begins slowly, though the odd look in his eye doesn't go away.

“ _You,_ Father?!” Thor's voice cries. You startle at the sound, having forgotten Thor was even in the room, and turn around to find your friend perched intently on the edge of the feather bed. “But you're never scared of anything!”

“Ah, my son, that's not entirely true,” Odin says with a small smile. “Those nightmares used to terrify even me.”

“Really?” You ask, eyes wide. You can't help but feel a little better, knowing that even the mighty Allfather used to be scared of bad dreams.

“Really,” Odin agrees. “I didn't have anyone to magic my bad dreams away though. But do you know what always helped me feel better?”

You shake your head, waiting with baited breath.

“Telling someone about them. How about you start, and I'll tell you about mine after?”

You swallow hard, dropping your eyes to your hands. Loki's magic has already made you feel better, and you don't exactly want to relive your bad dreams...but neither can you refuse the King of Asgard a request.

“Okay,” you agree, and you take a deep breath. This is not going to be easy.


	2. shadow people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should note that this is actually my second write-up of Glory, and I'm not at all finished with it. In fact, I'm probably posting this too quickly for my own good; I'll run out of material to give you guys soon. That being said, this story has changed direction somewhat dramatically from its original mess, and I'm still fumbling about with it in spots. If you're interested in being a beta-reader, please do get in contact with me. I'd love any help I can get, cause this is going to get pretty thick and lengthy, haha.

As you tell the Allfather and his princelings of your dreams, it feels as though you are reliving them in the eye of your mind.

“I start off in a forest every time,” you say to Odin's face, but around him, you can see the tall, thin trees casting lanky shadows across the ground. “It's almost sunset, and I'm walking alone. Or at least I think I'm alone, until I look at the shadows closer.”

Your attention turns more fully to the bare branches that stretch around you, limned in the dying sunlight. They stir slightly in the breeze, but the real problem is by your feet. 

“You know how the shadows of the trees get really long and thin when the sun is going down?” You manage, no longer sure who you are speaking to. “All of the ground around me is like that, except some of the shadows are moving.”

You feel petrified, locked in place, as you watch the blueish shadow of the nearest tree trunk distort and ripple, edging closer to you. You wrench your eyes up to the trees around you, but they have not moved. Only the shadows.

“It takes a while for me to realize the moving shadows aren't trees. They're the shadows of people, but there _are_ no people around.”

From the unnaturally writhing darkness emerges four men, who take their places at your right side. The man adjacent to you is a tall, thin man, with long, spindly fingers; one of his hands rests on the bulging shoulder of his neighbor, an inhumanly large fellow with shoulders as broad as a troll. You quickly look at the last two shadows – a comically rotund man, who almost reminds you of a giant ball, and finally, a man who is completely average in every respect.

“There's four shadow-men on my right,” you narrate, barely hearing your voice over the sound of your thundering pulse in your ears. “And three shadow-women on my left.”

You watch a tall, wiry woman, clad in armor, take her place by your left side. She stands attentive, completely disregarding the woman with long, flowing hair who approaches her from the other side. At the end of the lineup stands a woman who, much like the man at the opposite end, appears completely average.

“They're scary,” you squeak out, trying not to shake. “So I run away from them.”

The trees on either side of you flash by as you feel a burning in your legs and a searing in your lungs. Panic rises up in your belly as you watch the shadow-people on either side of you keeping pace with you easily. They seem to grow with your every step, becoming more ominous, more insisting, until you can no longer keep up with them or ignore them -

“Go on,” Odin says, and you suddenly remember that you are seated firmly on his lap, surrounded by warm golden candlelight, with Loki holding one of your hands and Thor squeezing the other.

You give both the boys at your side a gentle squeeze before letting go of them. You will not appear to be a scaredy-cat in front of the Allfather.

“The shadow-people are always faster than me. I can't get away from them. And they grow as I run. Sometimes they shrink down, too, just to grow again. But I know I'm almost at the worst part when the shadow-man who looks all muscly, like a troll, gets really big. He grows bigger than the trees,” you say, seeing him in your mind's eye again. He's enormous, all-consuming, and somehow you can tell he is furious with you. He blots out the last of the sunlight and swallows up every other shadow-person in his girth. “I think he wants to hurt me, but then he just...disappears.”

You can see the forest around you again, but this time, it is nothing but normal bare branches swimming in a dusky purple. In fact, it is so normal, so silent, it is upsetting. The forest feels big and empty, and you are so alone....

But no, that's not true. Odin and his sons are right here with you.

“So I keep running, and I come out in the Palace's courtyard somehow,” you say, focusing on the Allfather's good eye. He is watching you with an unreadable expression; perhaps he is wondering when your dream is going to end? You're surely taking up too much of his time...

“How do you come out in the Courtyard?” Thor pipes up, leaning forward and giving you a devilish smirk. “That doesn't even make sense.”

Before you can speak, Odin Allfather interjects.

“Dreams rarely make sense, son, and that is often where their value lies,” he says. “Continue, please.”

“All the hedges are overgrown,” you murmur. “It's like Queen Frigga let everyone stop trimming them.” You hope she never does allow that to happen. In your imagination, you can see the thick, misshapen bushes climbing up the palace walls, towering far over your head. You can't even see more than an inch of the palace's golden walls at a time, and the way back to the forest is suddenly closed off, as if the hedges had swallowed up the exit behind you. “So I can't see the palace, and I can't see the woods anymore, and I can't get out – I'm stuck in a giant, winding maze. And just as I realize this, the shadow-people come back. Four men on my right, three ladies on my left, just like before.” You can practically see them now, no longer grotesquely shrunken or swollen, but back to their hauntingly distinct selves. “And they start talking.”

The slender man with long, almost spindly fingers leans over to you, putting one hand on your shoulder. His touch is cold, the way you'd imagine touching emptiness must be. He whispers in your ear frantically, telling you that the biggest path is the way through the maze. He's sure of it. How could you not trust him?

“They tell me which way I'm supposed to go. The one to my right whispers in my ear and tries to tell me I have to take his path, but every time I do, it's always wrong.” In your mind's eye, you falter halfway down the largest path, remembering that he is never right, and that if you follow his directions, you'll be lost. “So instead I wander around for a while.” A while is an understatement. The maze is enormous and complicated. You walk until the sun is gone, your feet are sore, and the night begins to sparkle with the gleam of other worlds in the sky up above.

“Eventually I get to the center of the maze, which is where the great ash tree is,” you murmur, becoming increasingly distracted by the images in your mind's eye. Odin's voice pulls you out of your near trance.

“The one my Lady Frigga planted as homage to Yggdrasil?” He asks, and you nod quickly, remembering, yet again, where you truly are.

“The very same,” you agree. “There are three beautiful women circling the tree, and they're hypnotizing to watch. Even if I try to ignore them, every path I take just brings me right back to them in only a few steps. In the end, I have to go talk to them.”

The ladies dance in your memory, with lovely dresses that have the stars, the sunrise, and the sunset in each of them. They chant quietly as they circle Frigga's tree, and somehow, you can feel the sheer power of the magic that seems to radiate from them. They feel lovely and warm, but you know this is the worst part of the entire dream, so you take Loki and Thor's hands again, forcing yourself only to talk, and not to imagine, what you'd dreamt.

“I ask them if they know the way out, but they all look at me and start talking at once in a language I don't understand. The shadow-people circle around the tree, too, and they all grow giant and start walking in circles, around and around, and the three ladies keep talking but I don't know what they're saying.

“Then all the shadows get so big that it's like it's nighttime. Everything is dark and cold, and I can't even tell where Frigga's ash tree has gone. It feels like I'm all alone in a giant, dark, empty cocoon.” You shiver at the thought, and feel Odin's strong arm wrap around you from behind. He has a deep look of concern and sympathy in his eyes; you wonder if you have ever seen the Allfather look so kindly upon you. 

“Then?” He prompts, but his voice sounds dark, heavy, as if he doesn't want to know the answer. You pause for a moment.

“Then there's a woman, doubled over. I can see her crystal-clear in the darkness, but nothing else. She writhes on the ground, and she cries out now and again. She reminds me of an injured animal...but eventually,” you shiver again, pursing your lips. This part is the worst of the entire nightmare, you decide; there is something here that just gives you an inevitable sense of dread. “She pulls herself up on her hands and knees, and then she turns to look at me.”

“Her eyes are white,” Odin says, and you start, looking up at him with mouth agape. “She's blind, but she still looks right at _you,_ like she's staring into your soul. And when she opens her mouth to speak, you feel like you want to die.”

“And then I wake up,” you whisper in awe. “Allfather, how did you know this?” You can't stop the possibly impertinent question from escaping your lips.

“I used to have the exact same nightmare for years,” he says.


	3. queen frigga

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all for the kudos and bookmarks and comments already! I'm really honored that you seem to be enjoying this. Truthfully, I was pretty nervous about posting this, as my first write-up of Glory in August wasn't up to my standards. Also, sorry I disappeared for a little while there. My five month old rescued kittens got neutered and spayed, respectively, and one of them had a reaction to the anesthesia that went untreated for about five days. Poor little booger nearly died! It's been a long couple weeks, haha. But I'm back now and certainly hope to be updating this a bit more often - I've written quite a few chapters ahead actually!

Thor is asleep already, one arm burgeoning with the muscle of adolescence yet still soft with the chub of childhood thrown over your shoulders. Loki breathes slowly on the other side of you, lying on his back, though you are sure he isn't sleeping just yet. You are curled up in a ball, your back nestled into Thor's frame, your hands placed on Loki's slender shoulders. It takes everything in you not to dig your nails into the fabric of his night-shirt.

“I'm scared,” you murmur. Loki shifts beside you, putting one hand over yours. 

“Father will know what to do,” he murmurs back to you. You blink, feeling hot tears pushing at your eyelids, but you fight them down.

“I know. But still...this feels like some sort of living nightmare,” you whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. It's the truth, too; your heart had dropped when you'd heard Odin say that he had suffered from the exact same dreams. That wasn't right. That wasn't something that happened to _normal_ people. It wasn't ordinary to share nightmares for weeks in a row at the same age, centuries apart.

“Just sleep,” Loki sighs, turning his back to you. You put your arms around his chest, drawing his back close to you and fitting your taller body to his shorter frame. “You need it.” You make a small sound in the back of your throat, but otherwise remain silent. Just when Loki appears to be dozing off, his breathing turning deep and rhythmic, you tug on his night-shirt.

“I won't have any more nightmares tonight, right?”

“Right,” comes the breathy reply. For now, this is all the reassurance you need; you blink slowly, yawning against Loki's raven hair, and twine your legs in with Thor's. Just before you drift off completely, though, hushed voices from outside catch your attention, and you strain your keen Aesir hearing, trying to make out the words. 

“She's in here,” a deep voice rumbles; this, you think, is undoubtedly Odin Allfather. “I could not bring myself to separate her from Loki and Thor; she gets some relief from Loki's magic, and Thor has ever been steadfast by her side.”

“...for the best,” a soft voice intones. Your eyebrows knit together as you try to place where you have heard it before. “She needs all the respite she can get. Besides, I am almost certain that her nightly visions are related to our sons, somehow.” Of course! You realize. This is Queen Frigga's voice. “Or, perhaps, to you, dear Odin, since you were once plagued by the same dreams. Is she sleeping?”

A long period of silence follows; you make a conscious effort not to stir.

“Sounds as though they all are,” Odin answers in a quiet rumble.

“Indeed. Let's go check on them,” Frigga whispers, so quietly you almost don't know what she is saying. The door creaks open, and you shut your eyes tightly, squeezing Loki perhaps just a bit too hard. He stirs in his sleep, and you hear Frigga and Odin's footsteps pause. They start again after a moment, and soon, you can smell the sweet waft of Frigga's perfume. The bed dips on Loki's side as she leans against it, and you struggle to keep your breathing slow and steady, timing it to the brothers'. You shan't disturb the royal family more than you already have; if they believe you to be asleep, you will give them no trouble and pretend to be in slumber.

A warm hand passes over your forehead, and your breathing hitches for a moment before you steady it again. The hand pauses, then moves over your body slowly, not quite touching you, but hovering a centimeter away. After a couple passes over you in this manner, Frigga stands up, her weight leaving the bed.

“She has been touched by powerful magic,” she murmurs. “But it is neither Aesir nor Vanir. I cannot say from where this comes.”

“What are we to do, my lady?” Odin whispers. You listen as closely as you possibly can, waiting for the solution. Surely, the King and Queen of Asgard will know what to do to help you.

“We can only watch her,” Frigga murmurs. “And watch Thor and Loki, too. Our son may be able to stop the nightmares, but this may drain him...or, worse, make him a target, as well. This magic is strong, but it will make itself and its intentions known in time.”

The quiet rustle of a dress and the soft patter of footsteps trail out to the door. You dare to peek out of one eye, only to find that Odin is still watching you and his sons. 

“That is what I fear,” he sighs, but Frigga does not seem to catch his words. She calls for him from the doorway.

“Come to bed, love,” she murmurs. “We will deal with these things at new light.”

Odin heaves a sigh, and you wonder what he must be thinking. Is he remembering all his nightmares? Is the Allfather sorry for you? Suddenly, his good eye catches your open one, and you hold your breath. He only grimaces and drops his head, turning away from you and moving toward Frigga.

“So we shall,” he sighs; it is the first time you have ever heard the Allfather sounding defeated.

It takes you a long time to fall asleep after Frigga shuts the door.


	4. thor's solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been a while since I've had any time to write more or post here! I've missed you all, and missed writing tremendously, and hope that a few of you still have interest in reading my silly little stories. I really do apologize for not updating properly; my winter started off with my leaving an abusive relationship, followed shortly after by a full course load at University and taking up a part - time job. I'm actually headed to another state tomorrow to visit my new boyfriend, who is also a writer, and I'm hoping I'll get quite a bit of work done on Glory over the next couple of weeks I'm staying with him! Hope you're all well, and hope to hear from you all as well!

“You know what I think is the problem?” Thor asks, slamming his book, _Weapons Through the Ages_ , down on the table. You and Loki both start at the sudden noise.

“I can't get a good night's sleep?” You offer, well aware that this is almost certainly not what Thor has in mind. His eyes are too alight for such a mundane thing.

“You won't allow us to study?” Loki snaps, not even looking up from the thick tome balanced in his arms. You can only see his hairline peeking out over the dusty pages.

“No,” Thor grins, a chuckle in his voice. He is about to continue, but a loud shushing noise comes from the next table over, accompanied by a stern look from one of the private tutors. Thor drops his voice appropriately, leaning over the table to be closer to you and Loki. “What you need,” he informs you, his grin wider than ever. “Is a good adventure! Isn't it obvious?” You frown, not sure it's obvious at all. Loki does not react, still remaining embroiled in his tome. “Father's ordered everyone to remain locked up, as if we're under siege. You're going stir-crazy, my dear friend! That's why your dream starts out in the woods, and then you become trapped in the palace courtyard. You feel confined!” One thick hand slides something out from inside _Weapons Through the Ages_ , pushing it across the table toward you. You touch the pamphlet, spinning it around so you can read it.

“ _A Field Guide to Dream Interpretation_?” You ask, realizing that Thor had been reading this instead of his assigned coursework. It's touching, really, that he seems so concerned for you, but you wonder if maybe he's not the best person to be doing this. Loki straightens up, finally setting his book down and taking a peek at the papers in front of him. You sigh, looking the eldest of your best friends in the eye. “Thor, this is sweet, really, but -”

“I know,” he says, drowning out your protests. “I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to help you. Loki has his magic, and...well, I have this,” he shrugs, smiling at you so earnestly that you feel almost guilty for wanting to reproach him in the first place. Thor really only has the best of intentions at heart. “I've drawn some conclusions already. First, the shadow people are probably Vanir,” he continues, flipping to a dog-eared page and pointing out illustrations of phantoms. “See here, shadows represent things that are oppressive in your life. Right now, because tensions are high between our people and Vanaheim, we have to stay inside the palace walls at all times. So the Vanir are oppressing us, in a way, and your mind symbolizes them as shadows. And see, this page,” he says, turning to another. “Says that mazes can be a symbol of being trapped, and having to figure out where to go. You're feeling like you have nothing outside these palace walls, that you're confined and it's going to be the death of you!”

You frown, honestly not sure that this is what you're feeling at all. The Allfather had only put the palace on higher security for the past two weeks; was this really enough to drive you to such a breaking point, and so quickly? Thor, meanwhile, is carrying on in the background about how Odin had these dreams in his youth because he had to face similar circumstances with the Vanir, and how taking you out for a pleasant afternoon will be the cure, he's sure of it -

“Yes, well, there's one problem with this plan, dear brother,” Loki sighs, his voice as gentle as he can keep it. “Because the palace is on tightened security, we are not allowed out of her walls at all, much less on our own.”

Thor grins, shoving A Field Guide to Dream Interpretation back into Weapons Through the Ages and leaning back in his seat.

“I'm sure you'll think of something, Loki,” he says, an almost-unprecedented glimmer of mischief in his eyes. You glance to Loki, and find him watching Thor with his mouth slightly parted. That same glimmer grows in his green eyes, until his lips curl up in a sly smile. 

Judging by that look, he's already thought of it – though you wish he hadn't. Before any of you can get another word in, however, a tutor has hustled around to your table and is shushing you, again, demanding to know why you are all speaking and if any of you need help with anything.

You are tempted to ask if you can have any help in controlling the royal brothers, but think better of it just in time. They only have your best interest at heart. Instead, you ask for some help on your arithmetic problems. You do so hate when they involve arithmancy.


	5. theoretical abilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And with summer has come more free time and, as always, more writing inspiration. I've gotten several more chapters of this written already (hurray!), and with any luck, I'll be able to finish this beast around August. A bit later than I'd expected originally, but ah well. Glory is looking like it might even end up being longer than Worthy, which is surprising - as so often happens, this tale is taking on a life of its own!

You considered breaking Thor's theory several times over. After all, you alone had heard Queen Frigga herself say that you had been 'touched by a powerful magic', or something of the sort. Surely, that implies something much more serious than going stir-crazy.

But Thor and Loki are so earnest as they take your hands, practically running out of the library with you in tow once study hours end; you can't bring yourself to squash the brothers' efforts. Besides, maybe a day out of the palace could be good for you.

“This way,” Loki murmurs, his fine-featured face looking rather devilish. “There's almost never anyone by the library's back entrance.” His fingers slip out of your grasp as he runs faster, laughing as he goes. Thor gives a playful roar, letting go of you and chasing after his slender brother.

You feel a grin growing across your face despite yourself, and soon, you are also shouting, running down empty palace hallways after the brothers. It's not long before you catch up to them; you are taller then Loki, after all, and almost as fast as Thor.

The blond princeling lowers his head, shoulder-checking you and tearing off as fast as he can manage. You give an indignant cry as you stumble sideways, knocking into Loki, who stumbles and slows as he pushes you back. In the end, it is Thor who reaches the enormous carved oaken doors first, panting and sweating. You come second, deliberately speeding up at the end and outpacing poor Loki.

“You cheated, Thor!” He accuses between pants, his green eyes indignant and his small, pale face very flushed. 

“There were never any rules,” Thor answers with a smug grin. For a second, you think Loki is about to pounce upon him – it wouldn't be the first time – but instead, he lowers his head.

“Whatever,” he mutters, trying to sound like he doesn't care. “If that's the case, then it was never a race, either.” Thor looks like he's about to interrupt, but instead, you edge toward his younger brother.

“Do you have a plan to get us out of here, Loki?” You ask gently. “We might not have time to argue, and Thor and I certainly have no ideas.” The subtle compliment draws the shy prince back out of the shell he has nearly retreated into, and Loki sighs, straightening back up and putting his childish arguments away.

“I believe I do,” he says, looking very serious. “I brushed up on the theory a bit during study hour.”

“The theory?” Thor says, a mistrust in his voice. You shoot him a look, already preparing yourself to step in as the mediator. It seems to be a job you have been playing with increasing frequency these days.

“Well, I've not yet actually done it,” Loki admits. “But teleporting can't be much harder than the illusions I've already learned -”

“Except illusions aren't real people who can be killed by magic,” Thor mutters, crossing his arms.

“I'm not going to kill us!” Loki snaps, his green eyes alight with fury.

“How do we know that?” Thor presses. “You've never done this before!”

“This whole thing is your stupid idea!” Loki returns. You groan, deciding that now would be a good time to step in.

“You guys!” You chide, putting one hand on each of their shoulders. “You're brothers, and this fighting is ridiculous. If Loki believes he can do this, then I trust him.” You glance to the young sorceror-in-training, who nods solemnly at you.

“I know I can,” he says firmly. You step toward him, letting go of Thor and hooking your arm in his. You watch a small smile spread across Loki's face, as if he's proud to be given the chance to try.

“Thor?” You ask, raising your eyebrows. The blond princeling gives a heavy huff before stepping over.

“It's not that I doubt you, Lo,” he murmurs. “I just don't understand magic. But if you think you can do it, then...yeah, I'll trust you too. Just – try not to turn us into meat spaghetti, okay?”

Loki laughs, cuffing Thor on the shoulder before hooking arms with him.

“I'll do my best,” he says, green eyes dancing. “Though if anyone is getting spaghettified, it'll be you, brother.”

“Loki!” Thor cries, laughing. “You wouldn't!”

“You'll just have to trust me,” is Loki's only mischievous reply.


End file.
